The Masters Initiative: Secret Origin
by AliusNeo
Summary: For years Superman and the Justice League have held a firm grasp of the safety of Earth. Yet brewing on the surface of their blue jewel, an old enemy waits to strike, using weapons and allies that would rival the League itself. From the shadows he waits and watches; letting all the pieces fall into place. Here is the tale of what drove Cro-Zod of Krypton to this place...
1. Escape

(This is an origin tale for an RP that I'm part of called The Masters Initiative where we are all doing origin tales for some of our characters. This story deals with one of Supermans main villains, general Zod. This story deals with Zods original encounter with Superman and how he gets involved into the RP some time later. I don't go into heavy detail about his time on Krypton but thats only because it's not really relevant to the tale at hand. Hope you enjoy; and Charmy, watch out behind you!)

_**NOW...**_

For the longest time he could remember nothing but the feeling left on him by this wretched prison. _The Phantom Zone_. The worst kind of torture for any man_; _suspended and unmoving; every scream lost to your own ears. It is having the sensation of death all around, trying to cling its way within you, yet knowing that you live... even when you wished death would hurry up and consume you... but it never will.

_**THEN...**_

His name is Zod, Cro-Zod of Krypton; imprisoned for trying to take control of Krypton's foolish government, only to be betrayed by one of his closest friends... Jor-El. He and his wife Ursa were made outcasts of; turned into pariahs and prosecuted for their 'crimes'. Along with their companion Non, who had at one point been a brilliant scientist, and mentor to Jor-El; yet was lobotomized for learning the truth of a conspiracy about the government Zod eventually tried to overthrow; yet the conspiracy he uncovered remains lost, as Non has never spoken since. The procedure had left him void of most emotion, save his rage; which was only empowered by his sheer brute size, yet Zod knew that somewhere deep inside, his old friend was still there; itching for revenge. The three were sentenced to a life-time in the Phantom Zone, and so were saved from Kryptons destruction.

Yet fate had decided to give Zod and his companions a second chance, and upon stumbling upon the Phantom Zone projector for the first time, Kal-El released the trio from their prison and onto Earth. Providence had struck, and after a well placed distortion of truth; telling Kal-El that they were falsely imprisoned, they began to secretly survey the planet; determining that Mankind was too primitive to adequately govern themselves. Upon confronting Kal-El of their plan to re-establish Earth as New Krypton, there was a tremendous conflict that occurred between all of them. Although all three of them fought against Superman, his time spent harnessing and training his powers proved to give him the upper hand. After attacking several oil tankers and giving a distraction to the Man of Steel, the trio escaped to the red sands of Mars, and there they were able to elude the son of Jor-El

Zod knew that he had been foolish for thinking that he could befriend Kal-El, and turn him against a father that he never known, and knew now that he must seek to defeat Kal-El by other means. The three of them spent years on Mars, establishing a secret base of operations underneath the sands. During their time on Mars, Zod and Ursa had a son; they named him Kon-Zod, the first Son of New Krypton. Zod knew at this point in his life that he had to be unrelenting in his crusade against the Son of Jor-El; he went about the Earth under the false name of Jordon Elwin; a name meant to curse his enemy. He secretly gathered resources that he could use to manipulate the people of Earth; something called 'money'. Zod was familiar with the concept of commercial gain, but such things had long been done away with on Krypton... before it's destruction.

Yet Zods trips to Earth ended up being his undoing; upon trying to acquire Blackgate Prison in Gotham City he was found out by Batman, who wasted no time in contacting Kal-El. In order to keep the Justice League from following him back, Zod began a brawl with seven founding members; taking them down one by one until only Superman remained. The two faught a long battle which ended in the Fortress of Solitude, yet Zods time on Mars training with Ursa and Non had helped him harness his abilities, and his military training gave him an edge that Superman could not compensate against. Upon defeating Superman, Zod fled to his secret fortress under the sands of Mars; yet Zod was his own undoing. Using a device built by Lex Luthor to track Supermans flight patterns, The Justice League was able to track down Zod's escape route and determined where he had been hiding all these years. Luckily for Zod however, Batman and the League had not learned of the secret alias that Zod had been using during his visits to Earth.

The League knew that a direct attack on Zod would prove just as fruitless when they attacked him in Gotham; so a plan was devised where a lead suit was made for Superman, he would take a piece of Kryptonite with him to Mars and expose Zod and the others to it. Though the plan did go go as hoped; for after subduing Non and Ursa with the Kryptonite, Superman found Zod with his child, the First Son of New Krypton; and using the child as a shield Zod was able to convince Superman to cast aside the Kryptonite.

An epic battle occurred between Superman and Zod which took place on Mars and the Moon before the two crashed to the Earth; their battle continuing until Superman was able to best Zod by means of a backwards-Magical phrase he had been trained in from Zatara the Magician, for this occasion. Though Superman was by no means magically adept, the spell was more than enough to tip the scales in his favor. Unknown to both the combatants; when they had started their fight on Mars and Superman had discarded the Kryptonite, the chunk had found its way to the side of Ursa, and sat there until she died from Kryptonite Poisoning.

Zod was imprisoned within the Fortress of Solitude, within a Kryptonian energy prison which was emitting small bursts of red solar radiation which were contained to within the prison. Shortly after Zod was joined by Non, and when informed of his wives death did not speak a word; joining Non in his silence. After several days of solitude, Superman appeared to declare that he was returning Zod and Non to the Phantom Zone. It was not this news that made Zod speak however; it was after Kal-El informed him that he would not allow Zods child to accompany him into the Zone; that he would keep Kon-Zod with him and raise him on Earth.

_Zod spat into the energy field that imprisoned him. The saliva began to sizzle and evaporate as it collided with the field, causing a light steam to billow within the field. "Your father, Jor-El once imprisoned me within the Zone; when he did I swore that I would make sure that he and his heirs paid dearly for their betrayal of the house of Zod. You Kal-El... I swear to you now, for taking from me my bride and my heir; I will watch your blood flow. I will tear your throat from your neck. I will inflict upon you the greatest torture I can imagine. I will take my son back; and bring ruin to all you cherish."_

There was a blinding light from the Phantom Zone projector that stood on a crystalline stand before Zod and Non, and the two disappeared into the light; once again embraced by the nothing that was offered to the senses as the effects of the Zone consumed them.

_**NOW...**_

For the longest time he could remember nothing but the feeling left on him by this wretched prison. _The Phantom Zone_. The worst kind of torture for any man_; _suspended and unmoving; every scream lost to your own ears. It is having the sensation of death all around, trying to cling its way within you, yet knowing that you live... even when you wished death would hurry up and consume you... but it never will.

How long he had been here was a mystery to him; yet his thoughts never strayed far from his hatred of Kal-El; his desire to wrap his hands around Supermans throat. The thought consumes him until suddenly one day, when a strange face replaces the nothing that he sees. The face has a mouth which begins to move, but Zod cannot hear his words; his ears are still deafened by the Zone. Soon the face disappears and is replaced by a blinding light; Zods senses suddenly return to him.

He feels his feet touch down on a solid surface; the sounds of cars honking echoes miles above him; there is a stale taste in the air as he breathes in for the first time in a long time. "I've done it!" A familiar voice called out to him as he opened his eyes to see a middle aged man with a long red beard and shaggy long hair; he wore a lab coat and didn't seem to have showered in a long time. Zod noticed that he was in a large laboratory with many cords that were running from several different holes in the walls into the machine behind him; which was steaming heavily from its use.

"Where am I?" Zod said in a demanding tone as he glared towards the strange man. There was a strange familiarity to the mans face, yet Zod could not place the man in his memory.

"Underground; sir. I've been working here for years, since Mr. Elwin funded my research, he... oh my god. You're him! Mr. Elwin?" The scientists face took a look of shock as he began to examine Zods facial features. "Sir; it's been nearly twenty years... where have you been?"

Zods memory began to race as he remembered buying up a small research lab located under Coast City. This scientist was Jay Romoni; a brilliant physicist and a specialist in inter-dimensional theory. Zod could remember the project that he had put Romoni on; essentially Romoni had been put in charge of finding a way to breach a barrier into another world; little did Romoni know that Zod (in the guise of Jordon Elwin) had steered his research so that if he did succeed and create a rift; it would lead to the Phantom Zone. Zods back door contingency plan had worked; yet as Zod examined the machine behind him he could not help but become enraged by the layers upon layers of burned circuits and wires; there was now no way for Zod to release Non. His eyes wandered back to Dr. Romoni as his eyes flickered with a tinge of red, "You're machine Doctor; is there any way to fix it?" Zod spoke in the most restrained voice he could muster, if he were to defeat Superman and reclaim his son then he would need Nons help.

"It took me twenty years to get this right, sir. Many of the materials that I used are no longer available. Also that crystal you provided me with has been rendered inert by the experiment which brought you through..." Dr. Romoni began to step back from Zod as he spoke; the flicker of red in Zods eyes had scared the Doctor enough that he felt an intense need to put more distance between himself and his employer.

"That is unfortunate Doctor." Zod spoke in a low voice as his eyes began to glow with an intensity as the red flicker began to consume his eyes. Dr. Romoni stopped in his tracks, his face became contorted in a look of utter pain as Zod used a combination of his heat-vision and X-ray vision to set Dr. Romoni's frontal lobe and cerebellum of his brain on fire. "It is also unfortunate for you that I cannot have any loose ends. You have served your purpose, and your research will prove most valuable to me." Zods eyes stopped glowing and returned to their normal dark brown, the look of pain across the Doctors face was replaced with a vacant stare as he collapsed to the ground; a steady stream of drool flowing from his mouth as Zod approached.

"My son... Kon-Zod; I will take you back." Zod began as he moved from his place and began to walk towards a near by computer monitor; during his time on Earth before Kal-El imprisoned him, he had familiarized himself with the device. He began to search up all information he could find on Superman and the Justice League; in the twenty years Zod had been imprisoned things had changed drastically for this planet. "I will make you pay for what you have robbed from me, son of Jor-El. You and your group think you are the masters of this planet... now; you will learn the truth, and then;" Zod turned on his spot, clenching his fist as he held it into the air before shouting, "YOU SHALL KNEEL BEFORE ZOD!"

(Believe it or not I have been Rping with Zod for over a year and this is the first time he has had a chance to use his catch-line, hence the capitals :p)


	2. The Masters Initiative

(Okay so a few things you need to know for Chapter 2! A) Zod uses the alias of Jordon Elwin. B) This chapter is mostly to establish continuity between the origins of the other MI Characters and to foreshadow where he is going in the future of the Rp. Hope you enjoy!)

8 Years Ago...

"So we are agreed; Seth of Elturi will be dispatched to deal with the escapees. His loyalty to CADMUS is unquestionable." The elderly CEO of CADMUS Labs Daryll Harper said to the rest of the Board Members as they met in the board room. "Now onto financial matters... Since the Ultimen fiasco; I don't think Luthor will have time, or funds enough to keep CADMUS running. Even with our other private funders there is no way we are going to be able to continue with this new Initiative." He concluded as the twelve other members reviewed the financial charts since Luthor had pulled out his funding.

One of the younger members of the board; a young woman named Elison Tate looked around the board room with a confused look across her face. "Why are we not discussing the offer we received from that billionaire from Sweden; Jordon Elwin? His offer would be more than enough to cover the Initiative." There was a collective unease that settled into the room at the mention of the name.

"His donation; generous as it is, seems a little too convenient. And I don't like the fact that he was off the grid for twenty years." Mr. Harper said with a cross look on his aged face; peering at Ms. Tate as if he did not trust her.

"So he pulled a Bruce Wayne and fell off the face of the Earth for a while; his personal life isn't our business. We need the funding, and unless we want to sell out to STAR Labs I'd say we don't have much of a choice." Ms. Tate retorted with a tense tone in her voice; adjusting the glasses on her face as Mr. Harper held her under his gaze, mulling over what had been said.

There was a silence that held for several moments; broken as Amanda Waller burst through the door to the board room with several folders in her hands. "Excuse my interruption; but I have just received the candidate selection for the new Initiative; General Eilings candidate seems most promising if I might add." Waller said as she placed the group of six folders on the desk in front of the CEO; feeling the tension in the air as the board members all sat in silence.

"Thank you Ms. Waller," Mr. Harper began; "we will review the candidates and let you know of our decisions." Waller turned on her heel and walked out of the room as fast as she could without speed-walking; she could feel the tension pouring off of all of the board members. A feeling of relief fell over her as she closed the doors behind her.

Mr. Harper picked up four of the candidate files and scanned through them quickly; picking up the last names of all the candidates: Carson, Chibling, Kurin and Hawking. After handing the files to the person on his left to be passed around, he picked up the other two files and glimpsed through them. A light grin crossed his face as he observed the two candidates that would make perfect additions to the Initiative. Mr. Harper closed the two files and rested them on the desk in front of him, placing his hand on top of the files as he looked around the room; reaching up and removing his glasses before looking from face to face.

"Okay then, lets put it to a vote. All in favor of accepting Mr. Elwin's funding." The board room called out the word, "I." It was almost instantaneous; Mr. Harper didn't know that he was the only one holding back from the deal closing... but it didn't matter now. The Initiative had to go forward as planned.

Later that night...

Mr. Harper sat in a recliner in his mansion like home on the outskirts of Metropolis; he had his feet up on his recliner, his business suit jacket rested on his chair, his sleeves rolled up as he sipped from a glass of red wine. There was a sudden rapping at his door that startled him out of his relaxation; reluctantly he picked himself up from his chair, placing his glass of wine down on the table as he made his way to the front door. As he opened the door there was a man standing there, a long black trench-coat draped over his body; his clean shaven face and styled, short brown hair accentuated the warm smile that cut across his face.

"Good evening. We haven't had the pleasure of meeting yet Mr. Harper, but I like to get to know the heads of all my investments." The man spoke with a strange accent that Mr. Harper wasn't able to pin-point. The man reached a hand out to Mr. Harper, "Jordon Elwin." The man said; causing Mr. Harpers eyes to go wide as he looked at Jordon with shock in his face. Mr. Harper could barely believe that the man standing before his was forty years old.

"My goodness; this is certainly a surprise." Mr. Harper said as he reached out and shook Jordons hand, noticing that he had quite a powerful grip. "Please come in. I can't tell you how much we appreciate your donation to CADMUS. Though were having a little trouble with the name of our new Initiative, your funds have already been put to good use." Jordon entered the house and began to look around, not removing his coat as he did. "Can I get you something to drink?" Mr. Harper asked as Jordon looked over to him quickly.

"No, I won't be staying long. I was wondering if you could help me with one of your researchers I haven't been able to contact; a Dr. Helvich Atticus Gibson." Jordon said as a worried look came over Mr. Harpers face; he removed his glasses and began to rub his nose before putting them back on.

"Oh, him." Mr. Harper began with distaste in his voice. "He's the biggest recluse I've ever dealt with; scary too. He takes his whole 'mad-scientist' thing a little far; but he gets results, and he gets them fast." Harper said with a reluctant pride in Dr. Gibsons work. "But I'm sorry, we don't allow investors to meet with our scientists. They are privy to certain information that we have worked very hard to keep private." A firm smile held across Jordons face; it wasn't hard for Harper to see that it was a forced smile.

"Of course, your protocols are in place for a reason. I will not ask about it any further." Jordon said as he looked around the house. "You know; I think I will join you for a drink." Jordon said as a relaxed demenour began to settle into the conversation. Jordon took the glass of wine from Harper as he offered it to him. Jordon then raised his glass into the air and stated, " To your new Initiative. May even the masters of the Earth tremble from it's impact."

Several Weeks Later...

"It won't work!" Dr. Gibson shouted as he tossed several papers to the side; cursing loudly as he looked over the DNA work for Raiziel Kurin. As hard as he tried he could not find a suitable combination of mixtures to give the desired effects he was working towards. Apparently the other scientists working on the newly named _Masters Initiative_ were having the same problem. A breakthrough in any of the departments would go a long way to finishing the Master Initiative as a whole, but no one was making any head-way.

Atticus stormed out of his lab and towards a nearby vending machine that had been installed for him; the machine needed no coins, only an ID badge. He brushed his graying black hair out of his eyes, he could feel the scars across his face that had been left by his wife before she... He punched in the code for a bag of chips and in seconds he was eating from the bag, pacing up and down the hallway.

He hated that he had been brought into the on-site CADMUS Lab; he prefered the quaintness of his own lab; though CADMUS had done well of providing him with what he needed, he found doing his work in the confines of anothers parameters too restricting.

An angry sigh escaped Atticus as he bit down on another chip; if only Sam had possessed a more mailable ability than electricity manipulation! He had many samples of her DNA, but it wasn't close to what he needed. "Poor sweet Samantha, once again falling short of expectations. What would your mother say?" Atticus spat as he turned to go back to his lab; but there standing before him was a stranger wearing a long black trench-coat, with styled short brown hair. "Who are you? How did you get in here?" Atticus shouted as he pointed towards the intruder.

"Please calm yourself Doctor." Zod said in a low, impatient tone. His facial features were hidden in shadow as he masked his voice with a deep growl. "I have what you are looking for." Zod said as he raised his arm out of the shadow to reveal a small vial of black blood. "With it you will be able to synthesis any DNA parameters your wish for your subject. Use it to complete your research." Zod said as he tossed Atticus the vial; who fumbled as he caught it. When Atticus looked up the stranger was gone.

.

Atticus ran straight back into his lab and reviewed the DNA of the new sample... "Perfection." Were the words the Doctor spoke as a sinister smile crept over his face; not knowing that he was staring into the makings of Doomsday.

Months Later...

Zod waited in the office of Dr. Helen Stantz as he waited for her to return with an answer. It had become burdensome for him to bribe, or secretly coerce every scientists on the payroll of CADMUS into his pocket. So many pieces were falling into place; the 'Windrider' and 'Hybrid' projects were both moving forward thanks to Dr. Gibsons breakthrough. Yet Jordon knew that it wouldn't be enough for his master-stroke against the League.

Dr. Stantz returned to the office, her long blonde hair flowing behind her. "Mr. Elwin; I've considered your proposal; and I accept. The subject 'Carson' doesn't seem to be taking to the other method that was prescribed for Hawking." She said with a mischievous grin on her face, which Jordon smirked back to her.

"Excellent; then we can begin the _Sleeper_ project I have in mind." Jordon said as he stood up and straightened out his trench-coat; Dr. Stantz approaching as she removed her lab-coat and placed her arms around Jordons neck. Jordon could see a light flicker behind her eyes as she leaned forward and removed her glasses, placing them on her desk as she let her hair down.

"I hope you meant that as a double-entendreu." She said with a wink as she leaned forward and began to kiss Jordon. He embraced her; knowing full well the telepathic power she wielded could even pose him a challenge.

3 Years Ago...

Jordon watched the satellite image of the Watchtower as an explosion burst forth like hell-fire into space. Jordon laughed to himself, watching as he floated before the monitor in his penthouse suite in Metropolis. If he had known that Hybrid was going to attack that Watchtower, he would have made sure the man had a higher grade explosive.

Jordon was surprised by how well things had been carried out; especially by Hawking. The League was scrambling since the _Masters Initiative_ had been put into effect; and now they were so divided that they were barely keeping themselves together. As Jordon wondered on the implications of Hybrid attack, he was surprised to notice that the Watchtower seemed to begin to lose its orbit.

"So, you do use stabilizers to keep the station in the sky." Jordon said out-loud as he examined the monitor. He now knew exactly how he was going to bring the League down; literally onto the world they cherish.

Jordon turned back to his desk and examined several files that were scattered about; quickly picking out one of the CADMUS injury reports. He opened up the file to see the name 'Dr. Christine Zeta'; along with before and after pictures of her accident. Jordon began to study her origin and case file; his mind racing with how her gravitational manipulation could be suited to his own ends.

3 Days Later...

"I am Armageddon, which of you wants to die first?" The voice of their pursuer chimed in from behind Jordon. The man was tall with silvery hair; a scar down the left side of his cheek as his face contorted into a look of rage.

"By all means," Jordon began as he turned to Armageddon, a slight grin on his face as all of the pieces began to fall into place. "He's already died once today." With the push of a button on the device, Jordon was engulfed by a green light, and instantly teleported away.

In that same moment Jordon appeared back at his secret base of operations back in Metropolis; Zod loved the fact that he was hiding right in plain sight, and that Superman was just too stupid to notice him.

The events of the last several days had proven to Zod that the Master Initiative was a successful gamble; his 'Sleeper' agent was already in place at the League; and now that he had a tag on Project Hybrid, there was little to sway his plan from coming to fruition. The only wild-card was Elturi; hopefully the League would be able to hold him until this was dealt with. Once Superman had paid, and Kon-Zod was returned to him, then Elturi's fate would be none of his concern.

Zod moved towards his personal work station; a pillar over twenty feet pall of television monitors, all with feeds that linked to different camera positions around the world. Using the vast wealth he had amassed, he was able to view traffic feeds, satellite imagery, security footage; so much was at his finger tips, and all it took was paper. He laughed menacingly to himself as he levitated into the air, observing the many screens as he ascended. He stopped his climb as he reached a monitor with Dr. Atticus Gibson on it; the scientist studied the test subjects that Jordon had left him with at the Lab.

Zod couldn't help but think about what Hybrid had said to him; "_No one uses the good doctor, and if you think you'll just be able to cast him aside when he ceases to be useful to you, you're going to have an unpleasant surprise waiting for you." With all his time spent making counter-measures for the different Justice Leaguers that had been recruited, Zod had not thought about being betrayed from within before he had at least begun his assault of the League. He thought it would be prudent for Atticus to be kept under closer surveillance._

Now...

Zod examined the data that he had been given on the Himalayan Temple of Nanda Parbat; three years ago he would not have cast an uninterested glance towards the pile of rock, yet there were attractions here that could be found no-where else. In the last three years Zod had been watching the remnants of the Master Initiative scramble about their separate ways. He had been buying off politicians; paying criminals to head his operations, and take the fall if the Justice League caught up with them. Villains like the ToyMan, and even The Flahses Rouges had aided Zod by taking suspicion away from his alias of Jordon Elwin. The time was now close at hand; all of the pieces were in place, only two more things remained; his army from Atticus, and his son by his side.

As he read through the report the air was filled with the annoying chime of his personal assistants voice; "Mr. Elwin; it's time for your scheduled meeting with Dr. Gibson." Although Zod found his assistants to be a nuisance, they did serve their purposes. Zod stood up from his seat and reached reached into the pocket of his trench-coat; he pressed a large button on it's pad and was enveloped by a green light.

...

A green flash of light appeared in Atticus's laboratory as Jordon emerged out of it; turning to Atticus with a quick pace as he walked; the light quickly fading behind him. "Good Doctor," Jordon began as he put on the mask of fake respect that he had mastered during his time with the Kryptonian Council; "what do you have for me?"

(Thats it for now, I'm planning on a chapter 3 that will deal with how Zod kept a watchful eye over his son Kon-Zod/Christopher Conner Kent, while he planned his revenge, and I will go into detail about why he waits so long until he reclaims his son.)


	3. Kon-Zod

((OOC: Okay, so I've been working on this chapter for months now; and after re-writing several sections; re-doing a whole battle because I confused a characters power-set; and all of the times I decide I have to prioritize homework :(, I decided to just get out what I had so far. This is only Part:1 of what was supposed to be one chapter; but I think I have enough content to justify a new chapter :).

No more commentary; new Chapter Time; BAM!))

_**3 Months Before Cro-Zods Re-Imprisonment in The Phantom Zone by Kal-EL**_

"Harder! Push harder Ursa!" Cro-Zod called out to his wife as her feet were propped up on either of his shoulders; pushing against him with a force that would have broken any normal man into pieces. Yet Zod held himself firm under her push; her hands gripping onto his wrists as he held onto her, keeping her thighs in place. "I can see his head; don't stop!" Zod almost whispered as his wife began to call out in pain; pushing with all her might so that her child might see the light of the yellow sun.

With a sigh of great relief; her grip lessened on him; and Zod could see his son fall from his wife. With his hands free Zod reached down with super-speed; catching the newborn with the most gentle ease he could muster. The child opened his eyes; bright blue as the waters of earth; just as Ursas were; his hair was jet black like his mothers as well; yet his face was mixture of both parents. The child began to cry out as Cro-Zod lifted his child to his face; a wide smile covering his mouth as he looked over to his wife.

"You have done it, my love." Zod said as he approached with the child, handing him to his mother as she reached out for him; wrapping him in a blanket as her husband handed the child to him. "

He is beautiful; what shall we call him?" Zod smiled down to his wife as he began to sit next to her; her strength already returning to her as she cradled her child gently in her arms.

"You are familiar with the tale of Kon-Nen? The pirate prince of Argo Bay who was the first to have ruled the High-seat of the Kryptonian Council through conquest?" Cro-Zod said as Ursa smiled up towards him.

"That was always a favorite of mine. So he shall be Kon-Zod; son of Cro and Ursa-Zod." Ursa looked down to her new born baby boy. "Kon-Zod. He will do great things."

Through the corner of Zods eye, he could see Non peeking around the corner; Zod looked over with a grateful smile and called out; "The child is here Non! Come and meet Kon-Zod! First Prince of New Krypton!" As Zod spoke Non began to approach with an apprehensive look on his face. He drew closer to the child in his mothers grasp; reaching out a single finger to the babies nose.

Kon reached up and grabbed hold of Nons enormous finger with his tiny hand. A smile crawled across Nons face as he looked down at the child. "Kon..." Non spoke; and as he did both Ursa and Cro-Zod stared at him with complete bafflement and amazement.

"You...you just spoke, Non! You spoke!" Cro-Zod called out as he reached up and patted Non on the back; a smile of pure joy across the new fathers face. "Today is a joyous day indeed. With our Son now among us; we will be able to rebuild the glory of Krypton... it begins now."

_**17 Years and 11 Months Later...**_

"Clark! Conner! Dinners ready!" Lois called out as she finished setting out the plates and the Chinese take-out food she had ordered. Clark Kent entered the room followed closely by his eighteen year old son; Conner.

"Smells great honey." Clark said as he leaned forward and kissed Lois on her forehead. "You know I could have picked up some authentic Chinese food." Clark said with a grin as Lois looked back at him.

"No, no. I said I would take care of dinner; now dig in, both of you." The Kent family began to dig into their dinner; Clark and Conner slowly poking away at their take-out noodles; it didn't take Lois long to feel the thick air of tension as the two did not begin their usual talks about constellations or Batmans utility belt. "Okay," Lois said sternly as she looked from her husband to her son, "what is the deal with you two? I was in the White-House when Superman renounced his citizenship; so I know tension." Lois looked over to Clark with a glare. "Spill it, Smallville."

Clark gave Lois a perplexed look, his gaze shifting from Lois, to Conner; then back to Lois."Conner wants to join the League." Clark said hastily.

"Dad!" Conner said with a look of disappointment and frustration.

"I'm sorry son. I don't like lying. Especially when the person you're lying to knows when your going to lie before you do." Conner looked from his father, to the irritated and annoyed look on Lois's face.

"I thought we had covered this. With your blood tainted by kryptonite, your joining the League is just too dangerous. I dislike it enough when you help out the Teen Titans." Lois said as Conners face gave way to a look of shock. "Oh yes; I know about your little adventures with Tim and Cassie. What do you think Bruce and I talk about for an hour every week on the phone? Politics?"

Conner hated it when his mom had him in a trap like this; it was bad enough that she was smarter than both of the aliens in the room; she didn't have to rub their noses in it. "I'm going to be eighteen next month. You may not want me to, but there's not a whole lot your going to be able to do to stop me." Lois and Clark exchanged worried looks. "I know you two worry about me. Sometimes I worry about what's going to happen to me. But working with Tim and the Titans has taught me something about the bigger picture." Conner held a firm gaze with his mother. "You have the Daily Planet; and you've done so much to help people there. Dad helps you there; and he's also freaking' Superman! I mean; how am I supposed to live up to you two when you wont give me the chance?"

"Conner," Clark began. "You don't have anything to prove anything to us. I never pushed you to wear the symbol because I wanted you to have a different life. That's why we had you wear that bracelet to inhibit your powers when your were a child. So that you could live a normal life. It was what I always wanted."

"Well I'm not you! I don't want to live a quiet life on a small farm in the middle of nowhere. I want to help people like you do! If you're not going to let me join the League, then I'll talk to Grandpa Sam about enrolling in the military. And I know that neither of you would want to explain to the General why you don't me doing that." Conner said as he rose from his seat before storming out of the kitchen. There was a blur as Conner super-sped back in to scoop up his plate and then speed back into his room.

"Well... that went well." Clark said as he shoved a piece of shrimp into his mouth with his chop-sticks.

"What are we going to do Clark? We can't let him join the military. He'd end up on a lab-table somewhere." Lois said with a worried tone as Clark dabbed the napkin on his face.

"Lois, I know we may not like it. But when the time comes Conner is going to be able to make his own decisions. If he wants to join the League, then all we can do to stop him is talk to him." Clark rose from his seat before heading towards the hallway. "I'll have my say, and hopefully I can dissuade him... but I doubt he will be."

_**7 Months Later...**_

((These events take place just after the close of the "Briefing RP Thread" and just before the time-skip))

"So what's up? What did you need to talk about?" Allen Wayne; AKA Impel. Son of billionaire, playboy Bruce Wayne; AKA The Batman; though few were privilage to that information. C. Conner Kent; AKA Superboy, was one of those individuals. Don't bother asking what the first C. stands for; he wont tell anyone.

"In all honesty;" Superboy began as he finished eating the pizza the two had got for themselves in the mess hall at Watchtower. "I'm just a little shaken up about that lady who died right in front of me. I mean; I was standing right there, and despite everything I can do; I was helpless to save her."

Allen reached out and patted Conner on the back. "I can understand the feeling; but dwelling on it isn't the way to deal with it SB. Like my old man always says; you have to learn from your mistakes. I may not adhere to all his advice; but he usually knows what he's talking about. I know a girl who works down at the hospital who could teach you a few things about basic medicine if you want."

Conner smiled. "Thanks; but I'll just ask my Grandpa Lane about getting some medic training from the army reserve; one of the benefits to having a General in the family." Conner said with a wink as he rose from his seat. "Now lets get going; gotta catch that Titan guy before he heads off on that mission without us."

"What mission? I'm here for repair duty pal; zero chance of decapitation." Allen said as he took a step back from Conner.

"Really?" Conner said with a cross look. "You'd rather stay here and tinker with things you have no idea about? Being bossed around by Nightwing; because he does outrank you, and will take advantage of that."

Allen began to contemplate on what Conner had said; his hand resting on his chin as he pondered how much hell Dick would put him through given the opportunity.

"Okay SB, you've convinced me. Where we heading?" Allen asked as he put on his mask.

"Oh, well we have to catch up with Titan first. He's the man with a plan. Last one to the teleporter room is down twenty points!" Conner shouted as he super-sped around the corner.

"Hey! No fair!" Allen called out as he ran down the hallway of the Watchtower. "We've been over this! Super-speed wins DO NOT count!"

"I still think you two should head back. I can handle myself." Titan said through his red Mexican wrestler mask, as the three walked towards the condemned building; Superboy and Impel were following him closely. "My powers give me a wider range of abilities than both of you put together; and I could arguably,"

"Give Superman a run for his money. Yeah; I heard you the first time, pal." Superboy said as he cut Titan off while he spoke. "But since you handed over that info to the League; this problem isn't just yours. All of our buts are on the line now; and I won't let anyone else die on my watch." Superboy said as he felt Allen pat him on the back.

"No problem, Supes Junior." Titan said mockingly as he continued to walk. Superboy felt his fists clench as he glared at the back of Titans head.

"Don't let the name fool you pal," Superboy began as he put on a strong voice. "I'm,"

"All man. Yeah, I heard you the first time." Titan said, his tone imparting a sense of smug superiority as Titan continued to walk towards the building. Superboy stopped in his place as Impel stood next to him.

"You know," Conner began; "I don't think I like him."

"I like him fine." Allen said with a smile. "I think he's funny."

Conner looked over to Impel with a cross look; perking up his lips Conner sent a burst of super-breath which knocked Allen off of his feet. Conner looked at Allen on the ground, laughing before he continued walking after Titan.

Allen got himself to his feet quickly, chasing after Conner he called out; "You know; you should try some breath mints next time your going to use your super-breath. That was just unpleasant for all of the senses... I mean I can taste it; and it's disgusting." Superboy smiled as Allen complained; both of them enjoying the time they were spending. It was hard for them to find time to just hang out these days, and Conner did miss Al more than he'd admit. As the trio approached the building in the distance; they came over a hill.

"Both of you, get down!" Titan called out as he went prone on the ground; flattening out his body against the ground. Superboy and Impel followed suit.

"What do you see?" Conner called out to Titan.

"Be quiet!" Titan hissed back, trying to keep his voice down. A wave of irritation went through Superboy, but he then realized that he didn't need Titan to tell him what he had seen. Conner sometimes forgot that he had Superpowers; having not had to deal with them for most of his life.

Conner concentrated; allowing his eyes to shift through the different spectrum of light that he could see. His X-Ray vision kicked in as he could suddenly see through the hill that they rested on. Conner was shocked to see that not only were the about a dozen men on the other side of the hill; but there seemed to be a whole underground tunnel system which these men were operating in. "I count fifty men inside; and a bakers dozen outside. That's sixty three total." Conner whispered to the others.

"Where are you getting fifty from?" Titan whispered as he looked back to Conner; making sure to stay prone as he turned his head.

"There's a tunnel system beneath us that runs into that building. They rest of them are down there. X-Ray vision." Conner said as he tapped an index finger to his temple. Titan let out a whispered grunt as he turned back to observe the men outside. "We can take these guys out easy. You ready for this Impel?" Conner whispered as he turned back to Allen, only to find that he was no where in sight.

"What the hell is he doing?" Titan hissed; calling Conners attention back to the guards; and the small body that was stealthily sneaking up on the guards. "He's going to get himself killed! He doesn't even have any powers for "

Before Titan could finish speaking the sound of gunfire filled the air. Conner watched as the guard responsible fell to the ground; crashing into the side of a jeep as he slid across the pavement. Conner watched as Impel jumped over the jeep; doing a flip as he came falling on top of another guard; knocking him out cold as the young leaguers knee collided with the mans skull. As more of the guards began to gather to the noise, Impel quickly slid under the jeep. After several seconds, three guards came running up on the left side of the jeep; and a lone guard on the right side. Impel quickly slid himself underneath the lone guard; thrusting his foot in an upward motion as he came out under the guard; placed perfectly to deliver a knock-out blow to the mans genitals.

The guard fell over with a high pitched squeak escaping his throat as the pain caused him to lose consciousness. Impel was on his feet before the man hit the ground; turning to where he expected the other three guards to be emerging from the other side of the jeep; but they did not come. Instead Titan came around the corner; pulling out an armor piercing bullet that had collapsed itself on his chest. "Not bad. But how did you expect to take out the other ten by yourself?" Titan said with a glare through his mask.

"Oh, I knew you and SB had my back. Wouldn't have gone off like that if it was just me. I figured time was a factor though; and guns aren't that big of a deal for you two." Impel said as he pulled out an escrima stick from a holster on his hip where a kunai usual was, and tossed it towards Titan; the stick flew passed Titans head and collided with a guard who was turning around the corner; striking him in the face and knocking him onto his back. The escrima stick tumbled onto the ground where it rested.

Superboy came around the corner next; picking up the escrima stick as he passed it. "Nice work there Imp, but this looks like one of Nightwings Escrima sticks." Conner said as he approached; Impel responded by yanking the stick from Superboys hand, and Impel was grateful Superboy didn't keep a grip on it.

"Yeah; I swiped it from his room when I passed the dormitories on Watchtower. He should be losing his mind right about now, actually." Impel said as his smile gave way to the mischief he secretly plotted behind those innocent eyes.

"You push his buttons way too often." Superboy said with a grin as Titan stormed passed them and towards the door.

"If you two are done patting each other on the back; I'd like to figure out what the hell is exactly going on here. The intel I had on this place suggested anything from weapon smuggling to illegal biological equipment." Titan said as he went to open the door to discover it was locked.

"I don't see anything biological down there. I think you had it on your first guess though." Superboy said as he used his X-Ray vision to scan the boxes around the site. Titan meanwhile ripped the locked door off of its hinges, tossing it aside as if it were paper.

"Doesn't matter now. We stop them, find out who buys and who sells; then find them and take them out; rinse and repeat until I find what I'm looking for." Titan said as he entered the facility. Superboy and Impel exchanged curious looks before they followed Titan into the dark of the tunnel.

It didn't take long for the two to catch up to Titan; who was checking around every corner as he progressed, the sound of distant voices slowly growing stronger. Impel approached Titan and whispered in a low voice; "So how exactly did you know about this place?"

Titan looked back to Impel momentarily before returning his gaze to around the corner. Once Titan was appeased that no one was coming, he continued to walk; whispering back as he did. "It was on a list of properties that were purchased several years ago. The person who bought them went through the most extreme measures I've ever seen to conceal their identity." Titan said as they came up to another corner. Titan quickly peeked around it. "Who ever did it had the means to create an entire fake town on paper; they collected government money for over thirty thousand people until they sent someone to visit the town. There was nothing there. No people, no houses, barely any wild life were even in the area."

"That's intense." Superboy said with surprise and shock, wondering how someone could pull off such a feat.

"Yeah, intense." Titan whispered as he continued down the tunnel system. "Every property on the list had been owned by someone living in that town. So either there was a town that just disappeared; or someone is up to something." Titan wondered how much he should reveal to them. It was entirely possible that one of them had been sent here to watch him; could he trust the head members of the league? Or were they the ones who had engineered what he had become; and now just wanted to keep an eye on him...

"Hey! What are you doing here?" A male voice shouted from down the tunnel as the three came around another corner. Titan had lost himself in his thoughts and had got careless; even for a second, that was a dumb thing to do, and he knew it. The trio all got into a ready stance as Impel removed Nightwings Escrima stick from its place. "We've got intr-UHG!" The escrima stick collided with the side of the mans head after it ricochet off the tunnel walls; making a chiming noise as it hit the ground.

The three could hear voices shouting down the tunnel; their cover was blown and soon they would be trapped in a tunnel with forty nine angry men shooting at them; like fish in a barrel. Titan was the first to take off down the tunnel; knowing that his position would work against him while he was up against gun-fire.

Superboy looked to Impel with a slight grin on his face. "We can't let him have all the fun now, can we?" Superboy extended a hand to Impel, who took it without hesitation.

"No, we certainly can't. That would just be rude of us... especially you." Impel said as Superboy hoisted him onto his back. "If we get shot at I'm using you as my human shield." Impel said jokingly as Superboy laughed.

"Saying that to anyone else makes you a horrible person. Just keep your head down, and your legs tucked in. I'll let you down in a safe spot once we're in." Conner said as he became suddenly serious; the memory of that poor woman from the Watchtower echoing in his mind. Superboy would not let anything happen to Allen down here; no one else would die because Conner couldn't act.

_To Be Continued..._

((OOC: These three make quite the unlikely trio; one of my favorite parts of this was the dialogue between them. Impel is the one who can get along with just about anyone; while Superboy is just a little too cocky for his own good at this point in his life; which is something that Titan doesn't like about him.

Don't expect things to go too smoothly for our young heroes; and when it hits the fan {and oh boy; will it ever}; these three will have more on their hands than they expected. Thanks for reading; hope you enjoyed :) ))


	4. Teen Team Up

((Time for part two of the Titan/Impel/Superboy team up extravaganza! BOOYAH!))

Chapter 4:

Before Allen could even blink, his feet were already placed onto solid ground and his entire surrounding had changed. The two were now hidden behind several crates in the corner of the underground warehouse. Impel was slightly disoriented from the speedy move, so Conner took the time to survery the area. Gunshots filled the air, along with the shouts of Titan, as the sight of what Conner would later describe as a "Titanic"; a term which would be used by Conner at later dates to annoy Titan to no end.

Titan had absorbed mass from the ground beneath him as he charged; powering up his body; making it grow to a point where he looked bigger than Bane did on the Venom drug. Bullets bounces off of Titan as he charged into the group of armed thugs. More men began to pour into the room, catching Titans attention as he sprang into action, throwing his body at the doorway and barreling over the men as they were caught off guard.

Superboy sprung into action as well, rushing in to aid Titan. Titan and Superboy got back to back as armed thugs began to surround them. "Imp." Titan said sternly as he looked over his back, his voice so heavy with power that his words practically jumped off of the wall.

"Doing what it does." Superboy said with a grin as one of the armed men started to step forward; Conner did his best to speak in a manner so the thugs wouldn't know they had Impel lurking in the corners. Conner reached out and grabbed the man by the collar before tossing him aside with enough force to break a few bones when he slammed into the nearby wall.

Titan took the moment and used it to his advantage, easily overcoming the first thug in his way by grabbing a hold of the mans uniform and putting enough mass into the outfit that the man would be unable to move in it. The pull of gravity soon intensified on the mans uniform as he was yanked from Titans hand and dropped to the floor; Titans physical mass lessening slightly. Titan did the same thing to several other thugs until his physical form was diminished to the point where he would just barely withstand their guns.

Meanwhile Impel took the time to analyze the cargo that the thugs were moving. He found several cases of high-end weapons; the kind of things that WayneTech worked to keep away from these kinds of people. Allen knew in a second that the tech wasn't WayneTech; but regardless of where it came from; these things had to be destroyed. Impel had pocketed one of the weapons cartridges and was able to get off one of the guns computer mods; just in case they could learn anything from them.

Impel continued to search through crates; and after six or seven crates of dangerous guns; Impel open a crate to reveal a shockingly familiar green glow; the crate was filled with strange looking harnesses which encases a solid rock of Kryptonite. "Well this is bad." Impel said cautiously as he quickly put the lid down on the crate; holding onto the hope that these guys didn't know what they had been moving.

"We've got the piece of Green-K over here in a box! Figures the second we get our hands on it one of those damn Supers show up for us to test it on. Gotta love karma." A thug said as they approach from behind Impel.

Meanwhile; as Superboy continued to fight against several of the other men, though Conner would have described it as a one sided display of awesome; a lone gunman began to sift through several of the crates until he found one full of high-impact sonic grenades. The man pulled out a harness which had a dozen grenades attached to it; and with the pull of a single pin which connected to the pins on every grenade, the man threw the harness to the ground behind Superboy.

A large pulse billowed out of the grenades explosion that sent everyone within a 25 meter radius flying backwards, including the trio of heroes. Superboy had the unlucky fortune to land directly on the crate which held the Kryptonite. Conner rustled through the debris of the crate, it took a moment for him to feel the sting from the light of the Kryptonite; but once he did feel it, it was more than enough to overwhelm him.

Conner couldn't find the strength to lift himself off the ground; yet thankful for Conner, Impel had not been launched far from the pulse. As Impel approached his fallen comrade, he was happily surprised to see Titan leap out from the darkness, his mass increased to the point where he was easily bigger than Bane. Titan went crashing down into a power generator, which exploded as he collided with it.

Allen rushed to Superboys side, tossing aside the piece of Kryptonite that had been left by his best friends side. "SB! You ok? This is not a good time for you to have a Kryptonite coughing fit!" Impel said with intense worry in his voice as Superboy rose to his elbows.

"I'll be fine. It's him we should worry about." Superboy said as Impel shot his head around to the sight of Titan being beaten by several of the smugglers; each of the men held a wooden baseball bat and pounded on him as Titan lay on the ground, craddling his head. Impel knew that Titan must have reduced his mass enough to leave him vulnerable. Something in Allen snapped; he couldn't bear watching his team-mate being beaten in such a manner.

As Allen began to approach, three more smugglers appeared from a doorway to the left. Allen instinctively reacted by leaping towards the door; and with one powerful kick the door slammed into the man who had opened it, knocking the man out instantly.

As Allen launched his kick, Titan was able to get a palm onto the ground; absorbing enough mass from the building to build his size up again, tossing back the thugs with one powerful upheaval. Impel looked back towards Titan with a grin on his face; "And to think, I was worried about you." Impel shouted out with a laugh.

The other two men poured through the broken door to face Impel; who grinned towards them. "Oh, you wanna dance?" Allen said, his worry of Titan now gone; receding every time he heard another of the smugglers machines explode. One of the men bound towards him; when the man got close enough Allen grabbed hold of his hands, then jumping up he planted his feet on a nearby pillar before kicking off, spinning his body as he did causing the goon to do several flips in the air as he moved with Impel to keep his wrists from breaking.

As the man hit the ground Impel was already off to the next, leaping at the man and landing several feet in front of him before sliding under his legs. As Allen passed under the man he grabbed his right leg, and with a strong tug the man came falling down. Allens feet planted on the wall as he stopped sliding, pushing off of the wall he did a hand-stand before flipping onto the goons chest; sending a well placed fist into his face.

Impel enjoyed the momentary victory; but as he did, Titan collided with another of the generators; causing a large explosion which sent Titan flying backwards. The explosion didn't stop however, and started a chain reaction of explosions which began to rock the foundations of the underground facility. Imepl looked up to the sight of a wall of fire as it closed in on him. A pair of strong hands gripped Impel under the arm-pits as he suddenly felt himself being lifted into the air. Impel watched as the fire chased him as he continued to ascend into the air.

Looking up, Impel saw that Superboy had obviously recovered from his bout with the Kryptonite; and watched happily as Conner punched through the ground above them; breaking through the earth as the plumb of fire chased them out of the ground. Conner dropped Impel on the ground as the heat of the explosion began to dissipate back into the ground. "Titan?" Superboy said with worry as he looked around; he had expected Titan to be leaping out right behind him. "Titan! Where are you?" Conner called out as he used his x-ray vision to examine the surrounding area.

"Why didn't you grab him?" Allen asked with worry as Superboy looked around; not answering Impel or even acknowledging his him. As Impel looked around, he was surprised to see Titan float up out of the ground; though his body was completely translucent. "Oh no, he's a ghost!" Allen called out as Conner turned around, casting a confused look at the ghost-Titan.

"That's funny. You didn't read my bio did you?" Titan said with annoyance in his voice as he reached over to a nearby rock, absobring enough of its mass that he became tangible again. "I can remove enough of my mass to allow me to phase through objects. I did that and just rode the explosive wave to the top." Titan said as he casually walked by the others. "Shouldn't one of you call in to your boss? Think they'd like to know what happened here."

Impel walked towards Titan, laughing about how he thought that Titan had actually been a ghost, while Superboy activated his Justice League communications device. "Superboy to Watchtower."

"This is Watchtower. Mr. Terrific responding. What's your status Superboy?" The voice of Mr. Terrific came echoing into the ears of all three heroes.

"We've cleared out the assigned area. I already did a sweep of the area, and most of the thugs have fled, or are trapped beneath the rubble." Conner said, remembing what he had seen when he had been searching for Titan.

"Rubble? What ever you did you're going to be debriefed by Superman and Batman. They just finished up with the Joker and are en-route to your position." Mr. Terrific said as he cut out on comms; clearly there was something else that called his attention.

"Great, you know they're not going to be happy about all of this collateral damage." Impel said as he approached Superboy, Titan following close behind him.

"There wouldn't have been any collateral damage if someone hadn't gone off blowing up power generators." Conner said as he pointed an accusing finger towards Titan. "What exactly were you thinking?" Superboy said as Titan became very defensive.

"What was I doing? I was just trying to keep fifty armed men away from you while you decided to take a nap half way through the fight. And thanks for leaving me behind by the way." Titan said, walking by Superboy, and making sure to bump into him as he did; Superboy however did not budge when Titan bumped him.

"I..." Conner began with a regretful tone in his voice; but there were no words that he could find. He had left Titan behind; after he had promised never to let anyone die because of him... As Conner thought to himself, Impel came up and put a comforting hand on his shoulder; Titan looking off into the sky.

"Looks like Superman is already here." Titan said as he noticed a streak soaring through the sky towards their position. "He's not slowing down." Titan said with worry as the streak grew closer, and looked to be gaining speed. "Everyone hit the - "

Before another word could be said, the streak collided with the ground behind Titan, cratering the earth and throwing up bits of rock as the three heroes now scrambled. Impel began to jump from one rock to the next; making a final jump which sent him clear of the debris field. Superboy and Titan both emerged from the rubble unscathed as they joined Impel on the nearby ground. A lone figure emerged from the rubble, covered in a strange black suit with a helmet which covered and protected its wearers face.

The mystery man stared down the three heroes as they returned the stare. Titan was the first to spring into action, jumping at the armored man in black. As he approached the man reached out with a strong arm and grabbed Titan out of the air; strangling him by his throat. With a powerful downward motion of his arm, the man in black slammed Titan into the ground with such force that he left a crater even deeper from the impact.

"He's got strength." Impel said as he and Superboy began to move in on their new opponent. In what was the blink of the eye, the man in black moved to Impel, grabbing him from the back and tossing him backwards. Impel smacked across the ground, coming to a halt not far from where he had started. "He's got speed too. Watch out SB." Impel said as Superboy crashed into the side of the man in black.

Conner pushed against him, hoping to unbalance the man, but the man used Conner own momentum, plus his own strength and speed to launch Superboy into the ground. The man in black planted a foot into Conners back, pressing him into the ground. "Do you know what they've done to you?" A distorted voice came from the helmet the man wore. "Do you know why you suffer as you do?" The man asked, lessening his push on Superboy; who took the opportunity to swing his body around and connect a powerful foot to the mans chest.

"Don't know what the heck your talking about pal. but if you think I'm going to let you man handle me and my friends, then you have another thing coming." Superboy said as he clenched his fists and readied himself for another attack.

"Do you really think you can stand against me, boy?" The distorted voice called out, an almost taunting tone could be heard through the distortion.

"Don't let the name fool you pal. They may call me Superboy, but I'm all man." Superboy said, and when he did he noticed that the mans fists seemed to clench. The man then began to charge towards Superboy at a speed that he could barely keep up with. Conner felt a strong hand at the back of his head which forced his face down to connect with the mans knee, repeatedly. A daze came over Superboy as a powerful punch to his rib-cage sent him tunbling into the ground behind him.

The man in black stood victorious over the three beaten members of the Justice League. The man stared towards Superboy with a longing, only to be broken by the sound of metal being unsheathed. He turned to the sight of Impel, holding a kunai in one hand, and Nightwings escrima stick in the other. The mans fists clenched even tighter as he began to glare towards Impel; who could feel the mans eyes through the helmet.

The man began to walk briskly towards Impel, yet the mans body language stated that he did not have nice intentions. Impel readied himself, prepared to do whatever he could to hold this guy off and protect his friends. Suddenly, the man in black stopped his approach and turned to look up into the sky. Then, turning back to Impel, the distorted voice said to him, in a voice that almost sounded sad, "You will pay dearly." The man was then enveloped by a strange green glow, disappearing completely from sight.

Impel sat there, staring at the spot where his attacker had once been; he could hear his breaths and how deep and fast they had become. Allen took a moment to center himself, allowing his breathing to steady. As Impels nerves began to calm he heard the worried voice of his God-Father call out from behind him.

"Superboy! What happened here?" Superman had appeared from out of no where, his attention being immediately drawn to his son. Not long after, Impel could rear the roaring sound of a familiar jet engine. A loud gulp came out of Allens throat as he looked up to the sight of the BatWing hovering above them, the escape hatch at the bottom of the plane opening up as Batman came gliding down. Allen knew that his dad was not going to happy.

"Explain." Batman demanded after he had landed and straightened himself out. Allen rubbed the back of his neck.

"We were checking out the smuggling ring when their power generators went haywire. The weapons were all destroyed though; along with the Kryptonite." Allen said, causing Supermans attention to turn instantly. Conner and Titan had both recovered slightly from their earlier thrashing.

"They had Kryptonite? How much? Did they use it on Conner?" Superman asked in a worried tone as he took a place beside Batman.

"It was a pretty big rock." Allen began as he recalled the nights events. "Conner was exposed briefly, but I was able to get it away from him before anything bad happened." Allen said with held back pride; he was always happy to help out a friend in need.

"Don't forget about the jerk in black." Titan said as he approached, looking slightly off-put by being so close to two of the founding League members. Impel then went into detail about the man who had attacked them after the facility had exploded; and Allen told them what the man had said to him.

"How did you say the facility exploded?" Batman said half scowling as he and Superman looked from Impel, to Superboy, to Titan, who all now stood side by side. Titan took a step forward.

"It was my fault." Titan said in a stern voice. "I got carried away during the fight; I started targeting their generators. I thought that," Before Titan could explain himself, Batman quickly cut him off.

"You thought you'd cripple the entire operation, but you weren't thinking about the collateral damage. You destroyed any trace of evidence that might have connected the dots for your Sleeper cell." Batman and Titan exchanged mistrustful looks. "For all I know this is exactly what they wanted you to do."

"Bats, thats not fair." Superboy said as he stepped forward in defense of Titan, which seemed to surprise everyone. "He was only trying to stop them from taking advantage of my being taken down by the Kryptonite." Conner could see the disapproving looks come from both Superman and Batman.

" It's okay SB." Titan said before turning back to Batman. "Just so you know, it's not like I trust you any more than you do me; for all I know you sent me here knowing that things would play out here exactly as they have.." Titan stood strong, facing down the Worlds Finest. "I've had enough of this for one day." Titan then turned to face Impel. "It was fun." Titan said with a wink through his mask; before turning to Superboy. The two said no words, but simply nodded at each other.

_Elsewhere at CADMUS Primary Operational Headquarters. 8th sub-basement_

The stranger in black who had attacked Titan, Impel and Superboy re-appeared at his headquarters. The man immediately threw a powerful fist into a nearby desk, splitting it into splinters. A distorted scream came out of the helmet the man wore as another fist collided with a nearby file cabinet. Papers were thrown about as the man began to calm himself; reaching his hands up to the helmet, he removed it to reveal the face Zod. His eyes were red with rage swelled tears as the words of his lost son echoed in his mind.

"Don't let the name fool you, I'm all man." Zod could feel his anger swell as his fingers clenched onto the helmet in his hands, crushing it under his strength.

:"Arrogant." Zod muttered to himself as he tossed the helmet aside. "He's arrogant as any human I've ever seen." Zod fell to his knees; the filth of mankind had been imprinted onto his son. Kal-El had turned Kon-Zod into the very thing that Cro-Zod hated with such passion. "I will make you pay, son of Jor-El." Zod said with contempt as he watched as the paper rained down around him.

Years of collected information; everything he would need to cripple and humiliate Superman and the Justice League. But during his time cultivating it he had failed to see the true cost of his revenge. His son was now as alien to him as the planet in which he now resided; and Zod would make Kal-El pay for turning his son as arrogant as the human filth that surrounded him.


End file.
